Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Omi and Josh (Sept. 15th, 2007)

MORE PRAYERS PLEASE!

Josh and Mom went to Tuscon to see the Dr. at UMC yesterday and didn't get the news we were all hoping for. I'm not sure I have all the details correct but here is what's going on. The Dr. said the CAT scan shows that the tumor the Dr. in KS didn't take out is pressing on him in a not so pleasant place and he's afraid it will grow into his intestines and cause a blockage. He said that if a blockage occurs during the chemo, that they would have to do an emergency surgery and it could be very dangerous! The Dr. wants to go in and give Josh a colostomy bag and then start chemo on Oct. 9th. (for those of you who don't know what a colostomy bag is here is the definition from Wikipedia. A colostomy is a surgical procedure that involves connecting a part of the colon onto the anterior abdominal wall, leaving the patient with an opening on the abdomen called a stoma. This opening is formed from the end of the large intestine is drawn out through the incision and sutured to the skin. After a colostomy, feces leave the patient's body through the stoma, and collect in a pouch attached to the patient's abdomen which is changed when necessary.)

The other option is to go in for another surgery to remove the tumor. The problem with that is it will delay him starting the chemo because they will have to wait for him to recovery from that surgery to be strong enough for the chemo. The Dr. doesn't want to put off the chemo any longer so he is suggesting that the colostomy is the best way to go. Josh is just starting to feel normal again after the first surgery and of course does not want any more surgeries! Either the colostomy or the removal! The Dr. wants to do this as early as this Thursday or the following Monday! Please pray that God will build Josh back up and give him the faith that he is taking care of things! Please pray that Josh won't let this bring him down and that he will have the continued strength to fight this. It was so heartbreaking for all of us to get that news yesterday, but it really tore Josh down! Please pray that God is leading the Dr. in the right direction and that this really is what needs to be done!

Right now it sounds like Josh is leaning toward the colostomy even though he of course would rather not! At least this time he won't be so far away and we can all go up to Tucson to be with him!

Jeff, Parker and I are leaving for CO tomorrow for Lisa's wedding. I will do my best to update the blog from there if I get any new information. We will be back on Sunday.

Please continue to pray for him and our family! I would also like to add a girl named Maggie to the pray list. She is a 16 yr. old girl in Tucson who has the same thing. Her mom and I have been emailing each other and she has given me some very helpful information.

It amazes me how many people we have all over the world praying for us! The other day I was in Walmart and I was talking to a lady who works there. She knows Rosie's mom and asked me how things were going. I was telling her about Josh when another lady who worked there overheard me and asked if I was talking about Josh! I told her yes, and she said her church was praying for him but she didn't know who he was. It's so wonderful to know how the prayer request has spread and to know that they're are so many people who are taking the time to pray for somebody that they don't even know! Prayer does work and we have to keep that faith that God will make him better!

PS. I don't know what's going on with text size. Sorry I can't get it all the same size!

1 comment:

If Josh does have a colostomy, there is a really good ostomy support group in Tucson that he can call on. Contact Sandra Rodgers at 520-731-3460 or email her at ostomytucsonaz@yahoo.com They are part of a national network called the United Ostomy Associations of America ... I'm a member too. They have a national website at wwww.uoaa.org with some info about ostomies and a discussion board where you can get more answers.